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Local Historical Societies 

^nd "T/ieir Field of fVork 

By Otis G. Hammond 
Superintendent of the New Hampshire Historical Society 

Based on an Address Before the 
Historical Societv, Peterboro, N. H. 



Reprinted from March, 1922, Issue of Antiques 




LIBRARY QF CONGRESS 

APR1I19» 



IT IS the particular duty of a local historical society to 
teach the people the history of their own town, their 
own county, and their own state. You must not ex- 
pect the public schools to relieve you of this duty, for it 
is not possible for them successfully to include the study 
of local history in their regular courses. All the time of 
the preparatory schools is fully occupied in the teaching 
of the fundamentals of an education intended to be useful 
in later life to the average pupil. These branches of study 
may be considered as the necessities of education. A cer- 
tain amount of the general history of nations is already 
included among these necessities,— but only as one of 
many invitations to special study at a later period. 

The bait of history, however, does not attract many 
students at the present time. It may be possible that we 
are teaching history in our schools by beginning at the 
wrong end, the big end. We give pupils first the history of 
the United States, when they know nothing about the 
history of their own or any" other one state, and no at- 
tempt is made to teach them the history of their own state, 
or of any lesser political unit. I do not quite understand 
why our educators do not start the children on the history 
of the world, and let them finish where they please. But 
we must take conditions as we find them, and consider 
local history as one of the luxuries of education, for which 
there is no time or place in the public schools. There may 
be a psychological and practical reason for this. We could 
hardly expect a boy or girl of twelve years to care very 
much where the first meeting-house in town stood, or 
the first schoolhouse, or where the first settlers came from, 
and where they built their cabins. But a man or woman of 
sixty years does care, is interested, and will endeavor to 
find these places and mark them for the benefit of the gen- 
erations to come. A certain maturity of life and experience 
seems necessary to an active interest in historical organ- 
izations. At meetings of an historical nature, 90 per cent of 
the audience will usually be over forty years of age and 50 



per cent over sixty. This is not inevitable, however, and if 
local societies can interest boys and girls in the history of 
their town, some of the young folk will surely be led into 
wider fields of research. But to accomplish this success- 
fully the historical societv must be made the place of first 
and last resort in all matters of local history. 

The Problem of Organization 

First, let us consider the subject of the organization of 
such a society. It will, of course, have the usual officers, a 
president, a secretary, a treasurer, and perhaps a few vice- 
presidents. The vice-presidency is a most important office, 
for to it may be elected those persons who must be recog- 
nized for distinction without the requirement of onerous 
responsibility. They will enjoy the honor, as they should, 
and if there are several vice-presidents their number 
eliminates the necessity for electing any of them to the 
presidency next year. 

Then there should be a board of directors or an executive 
committee, who will be the moving force of the society. It 
does not matter what they are called, whether directors, 
managers, trustees, or executive committee. Their number 
should not be large, but their powers and duties should be 
extensive, and they should be responsible only to the 
society as a whole. They should be authorized to appoint 
all employees and all committees of the society, to deter- 
mine their salaries, prescribe their duties, and to see that 
these duties are properly performed. In this connection, 
the practice of electing committees in the annual meeting 
of the society cannot be too severely condemned, as 
nominations are generally made in a spirit of friendship or 
of enmity, and without any consideration of the qualifica- 
tions of a nominee for the work he is expected to ac- 
complish. And in open meeting few have the courage to 
rise and make an opposing nomination, lest they offend the 
first. But in a gathering of a few directors, the merits of 
various candidates can be freely discussed without the 
danger of starting a feud. Then the person best qualified 
for the work of any committee may be quietly and easily 
selected. It is often effective to appoint a small committee, 



with authority to enlarge itself as the original members 
find others interested in the work assigned to them. 

The Function oj Committees: Town History 

This brings us to the question of what committees 
should be organized to carry on the detailed work of the 
society. The principal function of the local society being 
the teaching of the history of the town, a Committee on 
Town History is needful to make research into original 
sources of information and to plan and execute methods of 
interesting the community in historical study. Such a 
committee would investigate the origin of the town, its 
charter and early settlement, the name of the town and its 
derivation; it would ascertain who the early settlers were 
and where they came from, find the original bounds of the 
township and mark them, and determine what changes 
have taken place since, — what additions or subtractions 
of territory have been made. 

It would not be a bad idea to hang on the walls of the 
society's rooms a county map, showing in various-colored 
inks the original and present bounds. In time such an 
exhibit might include adjoining towns, or even the 
whole county. The Committee on Town History should 
also find and mark the locations of the first church, school- 
house, town house, and graveyard, and see that the oldest 
headstones are cared for and preserved. The original 
names of mountains, ponds, and streams should be pro- 
tected against change, and saved for all time. Each one of 
those old names means something, or it never would have 
been used. Each one is the record of some historical or 
natural fact. In recent years the custom of changing these 
old names has become sadly prevalent and the old word 
"pond" has become unfashionable. If you have such 
names as Smith's Pond'or Elbow Pond, do not allow them 
to be changed to Crystal Lake. The old names mean some- 
thing. There are a thousand crystal lakes in New Hamp- 
shire, and to call them by that name means no more than 
to christen them Lake-with-\Vater-in-It. 

The Committee on Town History should also locate 
and mark the graves of all the soldiers and sailors of all 
wars who lie buried in the cemeteries of the town. 



At this point some one will doubtless say: "Why all 
this committee work? Our town has a published town 
history and most of these matters are covered in it." 

But are they? And are they correct as printed? How 
many of any community have ever read the town history 
or any part of it? It might be found interesting and stimu- 
lating to have readings from the town history at the 
society meetings. Such readings would create discussion, 
and discussion always creates more reading and encour- 
ages original research. Soon would develop differences of 
opinion, which would entail the preparation and presen- 
tation of exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting, papers 
on disputed points in the early history of the town. 

The Committee on Town History should also secure 
copies of the town charter and all other documents re- 
lating to the town, most of which will be found in the 
archives of the state. 

Biography and Ge?iealogy 

Another field of work would be covered by a Biographi- 
cal and Genealogical Committee, which could cause to be 
prepared and placed on file brief biographies, with photo- 
graphs, if possible, of the citizens of the town. In the ar- 
chives should be established a collection, such as is main- 
tained in the offices of great newspapers, so that when a 
member of the community dies, gets married, robs 
the bank, is elected to the legislature, or becomes other- 
wise notable, the local editor may get the full material for 
a front-page story. The Biographical Committee might 
procure genealogical blanks, and, with the aid of the check- 
list, send them to all the people of the town, to be filled 
out by the recipient while alive. Such proceciure is prefer- 
able to waiting until a person is dead and then imposing 
the arrangement of dates, doubly difficult, on somebody else. 

The committee in question should also compile a list of 
names and addresses of natives and former residents of 
the town who have gone out from it into other parts of the 
world, so that when anniversaries and celebrations occur 
notification may be sent and the wanderers, perhaps, be 
induced to return for a day. Establish and maintain a 
close touch with them. Let them know that the old town 



is interested in their lives and cares for them. Get them 
back, and it will be pleasing to them and good for the town. 

Searching the Newspaper's 

A Newspaper Committee may accumulate much val- 
uable material, not to be found elsewhere, by searching 
files of old newspapers published in the state for items 
relating to the town and its people. These items should be 
copied, if possible, for the library of the society, and the 
manuscript properly bound and indexed. If copying is not 
possible, a subject index might be made, with reference 
to the papers in which the items are to be found, and full 
copies might be obtained when the resources of the society 
permit. The society would, of course, make every effort 
to secure complete files of all local newspapers. These 
should be given a thorough and comprehensive subject 
index. All current outside papers receiving and publishing 
news items from the town should be taken by the society, 
the local material cut out and preserved in scrap-books 
in the order of issue. 

./ Committee to Say "No" 

Of course there must be a Museum Committee, and this 
committee should be filled with trained diplomats, who 
will be able to refuse a gift unworthy of preservation, 
without making a bitter enemy of the donor. Careful dis- 
crimination must be used in the acceptance of gifts, and 
people must be made to realize that family associations 
are not transferable and that one person's grandfathers are 
seldom of great interest to others. 

There is a large and interesting field for this committee 
in the collection of articles indicative of the early life and 
surroundings of our forefathers, such as primitive agri- 
cultural and mechanical implements, home-made tools, 
household utensils, furniture, china, glass, pewter, to- 
gether with the linen, blankets, and bedspreads made on 
clumsy old hand looms or with the patient needle of our 
grandmothers. Old musical instruments and firearms are 
always interesting, and the quaint clothing, hats, and 
bonnets of generations long passed away, though now 



rarely found, should be saved. We would call them cos- 
tumes now, but once they were worn to meeting, and 
undoubtedly aroused the admiration and envy of the less 
fortunate and less stylish beholders, even as happens to- 
day. Duplication should be avoided, and a poor specimen 
should always be discarded or otherwise disposed of when 
a better one is secured to take its place. 

Educating the Community Interest 

The society itselt should act at all times as a committee 
of the whole to teach people to think of the Historical 
Society as an important institution of the town and to 
induce them not thoughtlessly to destroy old books and 
other contents of their attics without first giving the 
society an opportunity to select therefrom any desirable 
articles. In this matter the members should be active in 
securing access to houses where ancient things may be 
found. Search the attics, barns, shed chambers, every- 
where — except the cellars. Save all the old books, pam- 
phlets, early newspapers, letters (except intimate family 
letters), records, diaries, maps and plans, church records 
and ancient communion services, early views, either 
printed, engraved, or photographic. Even the post-card 
views of the present day will be of historical interest to 
the next generation. 

That package of old deeds which you have kept so 
many years because you didn't like to throw them away 
should be given to the Historical Society, where they may 
be preserveci. Many of these early deeds never were re- 
corded, and they show the original names of localities 
which now bear more modern titles, considered by sbme 
to be less uncouth or more stylish than the older ones. Old 
wills, also, should be preserved. 

What the Library Should Contain 
Now as to the library of the society. The collection ot a 
library is the special duty of the librarian, who will un- 
doubtedly realize that the library must primarily contain 
everything obtainable in relation to the town or any of its 
citizens. A complete file of the town reports is a necessity; 



and then the county and state reports should follow. In 
this category I do not include law reports, for they are 
very expensive and do not contain much historical ma- 
terial. If needed, they may generally be found in a law- 
yer's office. When the resources of a society permit, it 
should procure copies of all the town and county histories 
of the state, and the few histories of the state as a whole 
which have been published. Two or three standard his- 
tories of the United States are desirable, but not of im- 
mediate importance. 

In the designation of "local material" I include not only 
books and pamphlets, but newspapers, programs, posters, 
hand-bills, except those of an advertising nature only, and 
all things, no matter how trivial they may seem now, 
which relate to the current events of the town. Many of 
these small items may be kept in scrap-books. Everything 
that records a fact should be preserved, and the lii^rarian 
should determine his policies by the consideration that 
he is collecting a library not so much for the present 
generation as for the community of a hundred years hence. 

No material offered as a gift should be accepted if 
bound by any conditions whatever as to its preservation 
or classification. The librarian must be free to manage 
the institution unhampered by the vanity of donors, and 
solely for the service and convenience of the community. 
He must have the power to dispose of all duplicate ma- 
terial, and to apply the proceeds to the benefit of the 
society, in the purchase of other books. 

Co-operation in Avoiding Waste 
Relations with the local public library will undoubtedly 
be easily established whereby duplication of material 
may be avoided as unnecessary, expensive, and wasteful 
to both institutions. There is no reason why two libraries 
in the same town, both open to public use, should buy the 
same books. Each should have its field of collection en- 
tirely distinct from the other. The Historical Society's 
field is history and its related subjects, such as genealogy, 
biography, and travel. The latter subject might, without 
much sacrifice, if found desirable, be left to the public 
library. If thepubliclibrarvcontainsmaterialof an historical 



nature, transfer it to the Historical Society, and if the 
society has material not of an historical nature, trans- 
fer it to the public library. Once macie, such an adjust- 
ment can be easily maintained, with a saving of money to 
both institutions. 

Better Done Wrong Than Left Undone 
A few words of caution in conclusion. This is an His- 
torical Society, therefore let all its efforts be along his- 
torical lines. It is a local Historical Society; hence its chief 
attention should be given to matters relating to its own 
town and people. Do something. Inaction is the most fatal of 
all diseases to any organization. Do somethingwrong rather 
than do nothing at all, for unwise procedure inevitably 
invites challenge and warm discussion. A good lively row 
is generally a wholesome thing. It is, at least, a sign of life. 
When opposing ideas are argued to a conclusion, usually 
the right ideas prevail. And a row brings out a deal of 
truth. You hear what your neighbors think about you, 
which is vastly more important than what you think about 
yoursell. 

Be active and you will be prosperous. And remember: 
it is not when you die that you will cease to be active — but 
when you cease to be active you will die. 



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Cifantville Pa 

3eot-Oct 1988 




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